1. What is the ‘English method’?
“The idea behind that method is that children are vaccinated against the flu in order to protect the elderly.”
2. In England there has been a childhood flu vaccine for seven years and children are vaccinated en masse. Will vaccinating children help protect the elderly?
“I am not convinced of that. There is a strong lobby from the industry to make this possible. That is good in itself. We also have the national vaccination program throughout the country, but we must not overshoot.”
“There are a lot of uncertainties if you ask me, it is morally quite a thing to protect the elderly by vaccinating children.”
3. Are we also familiar with such a childhood flu vaccine in the Netherlands?
“No. The industry is the same as in England. The children in the Netherlands will be no different. It’s a matter of transport and get things here and start spraying.”
4. Last year there were hardly any people with the flu. Why would it be any different this year?
“I wonder that too. With the swine flu people also thought that it was very big and that it was the worst thing that could happen to the population. That turned out not to be very much in the end. With that in mind, we have to be very careful We then had a lot of work to vaccinate the Netherlands in a few days.”
5 What do you think is the best approach to preventing a flu epidemic?
“The question is whether you should and can prevent the flu. The policy of vaccinating the elderly is good, because they are more vulnerable. The question is whether it is wise to vaccinate the population and children in the thought that you can prevent a pandemic. The question is whether that pandemic will come and if it is, it is also good for the population to build up resistance.”
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